"Cam, love emoji, rose emoji, smiley emoji calling," Siri said.
"Urgh." She sighed before reaching out for her phone on the table. "Hey." She said,
"Hello pretty. I'm on the lawn. I see you're still in bed, get up, it's Monday!" Cam said over the phone and she sat up immediately.
"Oh my world..time flies. What happened to Sundaayyy?" She rolled the sheets off her body and went over to the window.
"Yeah, get off that pajamas pretty shawty." He waved at her and hung up. She couldn't help but blush to herself as she turned away from the window.
She waved at him. "I'll be down in thirty, hottie."
She scurried to the bathroom with her items.
"What a perfect alarm for the morning." She thought as she sponged her body. "You look ravishing." She said to herself. "Thanks, hottie." She smiled. "Did you use strawberry essence on your hair? Because it scents like my favorite ice cream flavor, I could eat it now. It's like a huge ball of cotton candy, just that it won't melt." She giggled. "Oh, Cameron."
Her phone chimed again, interrupting her from her monologue and wild daydream.
"Can you stop doing that?! I'm coming!!!" She yelled at her phone. "F**k! Holy moly! My eyes. Gayle!" She turned on the shower to the highest, she just couldn't bear the sting from the soap that snuck its way into her eyes.
She stepped out of the bathroom a couple of minutes later, dried herself, and walked into the room, drying her hair. Her phone chimed again.
"Look hot, but don't be the center of attraction, cherry." The text read.
She smiled at herself. "Flirt." She muttered as she wore her underwear. She walked over to the window, he was still there, but this time, he was leaning against his car, busy on his phone. He looked up immediately to see her dressed in her underwear. He raised a middle finger at her.
"You want the whole neighborhood seeing that?! You want them seeing that cherry?!" He chuckled.
"They're not cherries, they're watermelons." She yelled as she backed away from the window.
She threw on a high waist red plaid mini skirt and a black long-sleeve turtle neck, then a pair of black leather knee-length heels to go. She glanced at herself once more in the mirror, then put on her necklace, she took a few shots of herself, grabbed her bag from the table, and walked out of the room.
"Wear a longer skirt, Stacey." Mom said.
"Yeah, I can see your panty..it's black." Gayle chirped in.
"Mom? It's the twenty-first century. Shut up, Gayle." She said as she grabbed a few snacks from the fridge.
"Whoa, Stacey. That's…that's…you're so beautiful, but, why this choice?" Dad asked pointing at her skirt.
"Seriously?" She asked and stormed out of the house.
She walked up to Cameron. "Don't say anything about my skirt." She said as she approached him.
He held the door open for her to get in. "I was going to say you're hot."
There was a little silence in the car for a while as he drove.
He pulled over for Miguel and Devika to hop in.
"Is that my girlfriend? Like, Stacey Cooper? No way." Devika said as she hopped in.
"Yes ways, babes." Stacey smiled.
"I know Cam did the magic, you don't know how to dress," Miguel said, looking out the window.
"Uh, no. I didn't."
She opened the door and stepped out of the car, drawing everyone's attention towards her.
"How the hell did she move from crazy color blender to hot?" A brunette asked as she walked past a bunch of lockers, Cameron beside her, Miguel and Devika tailing behind her.
"One day they're over and she's back with her ex that same day? So slutty!" Andira said.
"Yeah, same thing she did with Cameron. The same day she broke up with him, she started dating Jed. I feel like she doesn't have time to mourn or shit, like a queen. I kinda love her style." Jessica said.
She stopped abruptly in front of her gossips.
"What's slutty is you being fake friends with people and telling the ones that matter to you, that they don't count, because you envy me. At this rate, I'm pretty sure even Harris can hear you. You might wanna consider keeping a low tune when you wanna talk about someone next time if you can't say it to their face. It'll save you the shame and embarrassment." She turned to Jess. "Thanks, Jess, I think you're cool." She walked away.
They walked into the hall and settled down.
The chancellor started after everyone had settled and the hall was calm. "As we all know, your convocation or as you all know it, graduation ceremony would be coming up in a couple of weeks, meanwhile, your various departments would hold a send forth to honor your presence in this institution." She spoke.
The thought of Jed being absent for graduation crossed her mind once more and she became sober. She kept staring at her phone, sending him texts and all but he wouldn't reply to any of that and it kind of made her sick.
"I've got you." Cam placed her head on his shoulder.
The meeting soon came to an abrupt end and everyone went their way. Marina walked up to her after she shut her locker door.
"Hey, obsti." She started.
Stace looked at her, her face filled with expressions, brows raised, lips twitched. "Obsti?"
"Obstruction. Just a friendly reminder, Cameron, doesn't love you." Marina ebbed her and flicked her hair on Stacey's face as she walked past her.
She rolled her eyes and walked away.
"So, um…how about we grab something on our way home or even make a stop at the cinema? All of us, just a group thing. We're about to grad college and it's a big step. We might never have enough time to hang out together like we do now, so, it's worth it." Devika said after we'd settled in the car.
"Okay. What movie are we seeing then?" Miguel asked.
Devika went through her phone. "XO, Kitty?" She replied.
Cameron chuckled.
"XO, Kitty? You've gotta be kidding me, Devi." Stacey said
"What? I think it'll be a great watch." She said innocently.
"It's an episodal movie, girl. We don't have all that time. We could just do Netflix and chill at home instead." Stacey said.
"Or we can go to my lake house?" Cameron said.
"Lakehouse?" They all chorused.
"Yeah, chill. I bought one a few months ago. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Stace. I planned to tell you before but on second thought, I decided to surprise you with it, maybe make it where we'd go for honeymoon or even a vacay home, but, we broke up, so, I haven't thought about the place since then." Cameron said.
"Aww, that's so sweet," Devika said.
"Ask her out already man, I'm pretty sure she can't wait for you to do that. She hasn't told any of us anything yet, but I'm sure she's losing her mind waiting for you to ask her out again. You should know better." Miguel advised.
Everywhere went silent all of a sudden. She turned to face the window, trying to hold back her tears as her cheeks flushed pink.
"I'm so hot." She rolled down the glass.
He glanced at her from the driver's seat, he picked up his phone.
"Yeah, um, can you get your decor team to the address I'd text you now? I'll be there in an hour. Do the decors, I'm throwing a party." Cameron said over the phone and she turned abruptly to face him. "Yeah, hello? Can you get your catering team to the address I'd text you?" He paused. "Yes, get all of 'em alcohol. Yes yes yes, tequila and vodka. I'll be there in an hour." He hung up and placed another call. "Hey man, I've sent a catering and a decor team to my place. Let them in. Call Chandler, tell him I said to get the DJ to my location and call the house cleaners. I'd be there in an hour." He hung up.
She looked at him, eyes wide. "Wow." She blurted out.
"That was so out of the blues," Devika said.
"Yeah, I know. I'm throwing a party, I intend to do something special and memorable there. We don't have much time right? Let's party all we can before the grad ceremony." He said.
"Something special?" Stacey asked.
"Yes. You wanna know? It's a good thing you're coming, you'd know what it is once we get there." He said.